Is freedom harmful??

Question

is this possible?
it occurred to me that freedom could be quite dangerous:
- freedom allows any belief
- beliefs are perceptions of truth
- truth cannot be universally accepted
- conflicting truths result in conflict
- freedom allows conflict
- war results from conflict
i am not a nihilist, but suddenly its occurred to me that freedom may be more of a societal burden than a benefit.

1. is freedom dangerous?
2. does freedom jeopardize social construct?
3. does freedom serve as a barrier to productivity?
4. does freedom increase anxiety/fear?

intellectual analysis is welcome. I'm seeking some form of closure here. If these concepts could be resolved with two word answers, I wouldnt have bothered asking

i should have known better than to seek the advice of rebellious middle schoolers

Answer 1

People conflict with each other every day. It's a fundamental nature brought forth by the fact that people are individuals and make their own decisions regardless of the feelings of others. You're saying that freedom encourages conflict but is there any social ordering that doesn't? People will conflict no matter what you do, but will conflict much less if they have less to conflict with. The reason people formed the governments present in most of the free world was so that they could have a society which is as close as possible to anarchy, allowing everyone to have as much freedom as possible, while at the same time ensuring the safety of the society's members. The only way you could possibly stop people from having conflicts and wars and revolts entirely is to destroy their individuality, and then what do you have? You've destroyed what makes them human and they're nothing more than a biological computer that's incapable of disobeying.

in short, your main error is in your first statement
"-freedom allows any belief"
it should read
"-free will allows any belief"

my answers:
1. People always have some degree of freedom. If you base a society around the restriction of freedoms you encourage conflicts and dissatisfaction. If you base a society around personal freedoms with only the minimum restrictions neccesary to maintain order and safety, you will still have conflicts, however, you are less likely to have them than in the restricitive society. And again, you're mistaking freedom for free will. People are always dangerous if motivated enough. The question is how can you arrange a society so that as few members as possible will be motivated to overthrow the society.
2. All past societies have at some point been overthrown or abandoned and replaced by new ones. The idea that you can have a society that can last indefinately is an illusion.
3. Freedom serves as an incentive to productivity. It focuses the thoughts which in other societies would have caused revolts toward productive uses. For example, since you are free to spend your money any way you choose, you work very hard to get that money. If you were in a society where the ways in which you could spend your money were severely limited, you would spend time thinking of ways to stop that system, and would be less focused on your work.
4. Again, conflict is a part of human nature, and anxiety/fear are the result of conflict. I'm not saying it's good, but there is no way to stop conflict without violating what makes you human.

If you wanna know more about this idea, I recomend you watch the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. This argument is one of the main themes.

Answer 2

What is the alternative being controlled. There are some things that should have a limits, prisoners absolute have no freedom (but seems to have more than some free people), people who are illegal citizens have no freedom to say or do as they wish like protest they are not an American. I don't want to end up being told what to watch on TV, what kind of music to listen to, where I can live, what I can say what I can't, what I can ware and not.......I know it sounds stupid but if you take away some freedom it's the beginning for more to be taken away, which itself can cause anxiety fear, conflict amongst ourselves (socially), productivity.
and there will never be universally accepted too much freedom or not

Just my opinion

Answer 3

Just to answer the first part of the question: "Freedom is not harmful" if all those who admire (practice) the concept of Freedom also accept the fact that "Freedom is not free". And not merely that we have to fight to defend Freedom but that, just as important, in our practice of Freedom we also assume responsibilities, boundaries towards the members of that society within which we live.
In other words: "My freedom should end where yours begins"

Answer 4

Nope i dont think its all depends on the how u take that.....

Freedom is freedom....its our right.....right to live, breath free, do whatever u feel like.....
But as u know that a good thing always come with bad misuse so people may misuse it....it can be dangerous if taken in wrong way...
So Freedom is not dangerous the way its taken can be dangerous.........:)

Answer 5

Yeah, freedom is dangerous in someway. Like in America for example, there is a lot of freedom over there, so much that kids that go to school actually dress up as if they are going to star in a rap movie or going to the street corner.

Answer 6

There is one thing I see wrong with this, and it is the fact that you are forgetting that freedom only does such with both power and ignorence. So with some people like N.Korea's Kimme, it is a bad thing, but for everyday people, it is not

Answer 7

Freedom is only harmfull to the feds.but they are working on eliminating freedoms as best and as fast as they can. so dont worry it will be gone soon enough and most sheeple wont even notice.yes but we need to protect ourselfs with laws, torture kill , nuke me all, yes kill. yes, I will do as you say feds, i belive every thing you say, yes I am a good little sheeple, dont lock ME up.kill someone, please, lets support the jews, in there quest to control the middle east along with us on that so we can all be safe, ha ha. safe,? after we kill hundreds of thousand of ennocents. sure buddy. they will nuke US., soon enough, for what the feds are doing, and the jews,, nuke em nuke em all, kill kill, and everyone is saying yes yes lets nukeme, damn people. whats the matter with you all..I pray for PEACE. In the name of god, I pray for peace.

Answer 8

No if the owner of freedom be also the owner of wisdom and also the information about utilizing his or her freedom.

Answer 9

What do you advise, employer of an Orwellian society? constrained freedoms? i might choose my freedom and the opportunity of conflict, thank you very plenty. Even totalitarian societies are conflict-services, if we would desire to have conflict, enable or no longer it quite is under the banner of freedom, please.

Answer 10

Freedom is not only dangerous but can be manipulated to instill fear.